Thursday, January 24, 2008

Say Goodbye to Plastic…

Here’s the gist: Whole Foods is going to stop using plastic bags. And God Bless Em!

Plastic bags are made with petroleum by-products (not the wisest use of the last of our planet’s oil), stick around for about a thousand years in everywhere from landfills to a growing island in the middle of the Pacific (no kidding!), and when they do decompose leech into our water supply and food. Tasty! All for a few minutes of use. Nice, huh?

Vicky and I have been doing our best to eliminate plastic from our lives wherever we can. We have stopped buying bottled juices and sodas and the like… okay, I do once in a while – maybe one bottle a month or so – but that’s usually when I’m on the road and I get thirsty. But we’ve dropped our consumption by about 90%, easily, and even when we do use a plastic bottle, we recycle. As for bags, we have reusable bags and, when we’re only buying a couple of things, let the store employee know we don’t need a bag.

Do I think we should all do this? Yes! Absolutely! It’s a little difficult at first but you find yourself drinking more water, which is better for you, and amassing less trash. I hope we all go the way of Whole Foods.